Hmm, how about church music as another example of popular music not produced by elites. (Perhaps more respectable, but not necessarily elite.) Or how about work songs? Ragtime? Brass bands?

Indeed, some popular music wasn't produced for dancing but most of that wasn't considered art.

It's not really some simplistic generality. The larger point is audio reproduction and the increased production of commodities is what allowed the uniqueness of a kind of musician to be their selling point, once a musician was "selling himself/herself" rather than being a paid player.